SpaceX successfully launched a rocket carrying an important payload for science on Wednesday

The unmanned Falcon 9
rocket launched by SpaceX, on a cargo resupply service mission to
the International Space Station, lifts off from the Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida January
10, 2015.REUTERS/Scott
Audette

After two aborted launches, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon
9 rocket on Wednesday at 6:03 pm ET. The rocket lifted
off out of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX aborted its launch on Tuesday at 5:55 pm due to strong
upper-level winds. The launch was abandoned Monday for similar
reasons regarding bad weather.

Even though the weather was better on Wednesday, rocky seas have
led
the company to abandon a potentially historic rocket landing.
However, SpaceX still launched the DSCOVR satellite into orbit.

On Sunday the launch was scrubbed a couple of minutes before lift
off because of issues with the Air Force radar malfunctioning,
Elon
Musk tweeted. On Tuesday there were no technical issues, but
high-level winds would have made it too difficult for the
spacecraft to safely maneuver.

The main
mission

For this launch, the rocket will ferry an important instrument
into space: the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR).

DSCOVR, shown to the right, is the latest instrument that the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will use to
monitor solar winds. The sun emits gusts of high-energy particles
in the form of solar wind, and when those gusts occasionally
reach Earth's magnetic field it can disrupt the planet's power
grids, telecommunications, aviation, and GPS.

Having a satellite like this is "the first line of defense ...
for us to be able to take the appropriate action to protect our
system from any impacts that could happen," said David Velazquez,
the executive vice president for Pepco Holdings Inc. — a
holding company for the Potomac Electric Power Company — in a
NOAA
video.

After the rocket detaches from DSCOVR in space, the climate
observatory will begin a 110-day long journey to its final orbit
while the rocket will head back toward Earth.

To get the satellite well on its way, the rocket will travel
farther into space than any previous SpaceX Falcon9 rocket in
history. This will make rocket reentry trickier than normal, Elon
Musk said:

Rocket reentry will be much tougher this time around due to deep space mission. Almost 2X force and 4X heat. Plenty of hydraulic fluid tho.

There's a special point in space, called Lagrangian
Point 1, where a spacecraft can orbit so that it will always
remain between the Earth and the Sun.

"The L1 position will provide DSCOVR with a point of 'early
warning' when a surge of particles and magnetic field from the
sun will hit Earth,"
NASA said in a statement. The observatory will sound the
alarm 30 to 45 minutes ahead of time.